If you use Instagram, chances are you've already started to see your friends posting collages of their "top nine" photos of the year. The first year I started noticing these I spent a solid half hour at least trying to figure out where to find the collage within Instagram's app. Spoiler: you're not going to find it in there. It has the look and feel of a built-in Instagram feature, but it's not.

Instagram is one of those platforms, like Twitter, that I've always considered the content I post to be visible to the masses. Yes, I know both have a "private" option for accounts, but I've always thought the value in both was in interacting with people outside your circle.

Instagram is making it easier for people with visual impairments to experience its site. Today it started rolling out a new automatic alternative text feature which will create descriptions of photos uploaded to the social networks using object recognition technology.

When my son approached his teenage years, I braced myself for the inevitable behaviours teens often display. I waited for the eye rolling and the mouthing off. I prepared for door slamming and grunting. I steeled myself for years of silence with a moody teen. I’d often heard parents of teens joke that “you get your kid back” when they head off to college.

While Facebook has faced massive scrutiny over the last year when it comes to privacy and security, their other major social network, Instagram, has managed to stay clear of the spotlight. Until now. Over the weekend, it was revealed that a new security flaw could have inadvertently exposed Instagram passwords to public view.

Earlier this year I finally fell down the rabbit hole that is Instagram Stories, and now I spend way too much time on Instagram. This week, the app started rolling out a new feature to combat Insta-addiction, a “Your Activity” tracker that shows you how much time you spend in the app, and lets you set limits to help reduce the number of hours you pour into scrolling you feed each day.

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when there are numerous public profiles where we can check in on everything our ex does. Looking at how the person you dated is filling all their days without you is a bad idea, but often impossible to resist.

Fortunately, there's a way to surreptitiously keep tabs on them without bumming yourself out in the process. Here's how.

I'm a huge fan of night modes. Night/Dark modes are easier on your eyes and your device's battery, and frankly just look better, in my opinion. This week I came across a Chrome extension that adds a dark mode to Instagram on the web. Called "Night Mode for Instagram" the extension transforms your Instagram feed into something a little easier to look at.

Earlier this year I embraced the greatness that is Instagram stories. While I'll typically spend a good deal of time trying to capture the perfect image with the perfect caption to put on regular Instagram, with Instagram stories I'm willing to post pretty much anything. When given the choice I also like to add stickers and GIFs to what I post, sometimes at a level that (wrong) people might call excessive.

The blue check mark we all crave on social media platforms is often mysteriously difficult to achieve. How do people get it? Twitter allowed people to submit themselves for a time, but that system is currently suspended. However, Instagram is giving it a whirl.

Last week, Apple rolled back one of the key FaceTime features that was supposed to drop with iOS 12 and macOS Mojave this spring: group video chat. The feature, which would let you and up to 31 friends not-quite-make-eye-contact through their phones and laptops, was removed from the beta versions of each OS last week, and will now reportedly launch at a later date.

Most of us know we spend too much time on our phones. It’s led to a host of studies on the negative effects, and there are definitely repercussions to constantly peeking at your notifications and following those digital squirrels at every chance you get.

It is a decision I face daily. When my five-year-old daughter shows me her latest work of art, do I: A) talk to her about it and then stealthily slip it into the recycling bin, or B) talk to her about it, hang it on the wall or fridge, leave it there for a couple of years forgotten, and then stealthily slip it into the recycling bin? The mental load is real.

Social media stalking might be creepy and a waste of time, but most of us are guilty of it at one point or another. That's why, after our latest "How to hide your accidental 'like' on Instagram" post, we were intrigued by this even more efficient tip coming from one of our readers.

This week Instagram started rolling out a feature that shows your friends when you're currently using the app via a green indicator light.

Keeping up with your friends on all the various social networks you share can be an organisational pain. Now, however, Facebook is making this a tiny bit easier by allowing you to bring your Instagram contacts into Messenger, which also syncs your Instagram and Messenger conversations.

It’s late at night and you’re stalking an old friend’s Instagram. It’s all going well, until you accidentally “like” a photo from 42 weeks ago. I’ve been there; many of us have been there. The next time this happens to you, here’s a tip, recently shared by a Twitter user, in case of extreme, mortifying emergency.

Being online has never been more embarrassing. People are renting 10 minutes of time on private jets for the 'gram. The most innocuous and best-meaning of posts can spark outrage. You can't talk to someone on a plane without it becoming a viral story that leads to harassment. The president tweets.

People have always been able to reach out to the Instagram users they follow, and receive replies to their comments, by using the messaging feature baked into Instagram Stories. Thanks to a new questions sticker Instagram debuted, you now have a more formal (and fun) way to conduct interviews with your followers, fans and friends.